Iran plans another satellite launch attempt soon, says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Debate continues over whether an attempt this summer was a success or if only the upper stage of a launch vehicle reached orbit. The payload planned for the next attempt will be designated “Omid” (Hope) and will carry imaging and radio-relay equipment. The spacecraft will be launched with a multistage booster equipped with 16 engines, designed to place the satellite into a 430-mi. orbit.
SuperJet International has received Italian certification to provide multi-crew coordination, instructor rating and instructor theoretical training. The move is a step toward establishment of a type rating activity for the Sukhoi Superjet 100, which SuperJet International is marketing, completing and supporting for Western clients.
The NTSB on Oct. 16 issued an urgent recommendation to the FAA to require that all Pratt & Whitney PW2037 engines be removed from service for inspection of the second-stage turbine hubs when they have accumulated 10,880 flight hours or 4,392 cycles. The action comes from the NTSB’s ongoing investigation of an uncontained failure of the second-stage hub on a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-200 on Aug. 6 at Las Vegas. Post-incident examination of the engine revealed a hole in the bottom of the core cowl that was in line with the engine’s high-pressure turbine.
Sensis Corp. will install an Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) at Perth, the fourth contract the East Syracuse, N.Y., company has received from Airservices Australia. The Perth contract includes installation of VeeLo NextGen units for identifying vehicles on aprons, taxiways and runways plus a Sensis Aerobahn airport management tool for controlling ground operations. A-SMGCS fuses data from multiple surveillance sources to locate and track aircraft. It provides tower controllers with predictions of collisions via visual and audio alerts.
France, the U.K. and Sweden have agreed to study a lightweight compact radar suitable to be carried on tactical unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles. Known as Simclairs (studies for integrated multifunction compact lightweight airborne radars and systems), the four-year European Defense Agency study will seek to develop basic technologies for a European light radar capability expected to appear around 2020, including moving target detection, detection behind dense vegetation cover, passive electronic signal intelligence and communications.
GPS-based landing systems for military aircraft are a step closer following the award to Raytheon of a contract to develop the first increment of the long-anticipated Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS). A Raytheon-led team has received a $233-million contract for system development and demonstration of JPALS Increment 1A to provide an all-weather precision landing capability on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.
India has been heralded as a bright star in aviation, but its image of undimmed growth keeps being tarnished. Kingfisher Airlines been forced to seek protection through an alliance while it defers aircraft deliveries. Its proposed partner is Jet Airways, but the worldwide credit crisis is hitting that carrier, too. Jet will cut 15% of its international routes this winter
Fibertek, Northrop Grumman and OFS Laboratories are expected to develop high-power fiber lasers under a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program. Fiber lasers are up to two times more efficient than conventional solid-state versions, delivering more power per weight and volume, but have been limited to several hundred watts of power compared to the kilowatts needed for weapons applications. The Revolution in Fiber Lasers program aims to scale up single-frequency fiber amplifiers to 1 kw. in the 15-month first phase and to 3 kw.
In “Seeking Alien Life” (AW&ST Sept. 29, p. 66), Craig Covault writes: “This endeavor stretched the capabilities of TRW (now Northrop Grumman), which developed the Viking life-detection system, and the Langley Research Center/Lockheed Martin team, which built the two landers and orbiters.” The Jet Propulsion Laboratory built those orbiters.
Louisville, Ky.-based air-taxi startup YourJet has ordered six Diamond D-Jet single-engine jets, and plans to start operations later this year with a twin-diesel Diamond DA42. Toronto-based startup SwiftJet has ordered five D-jets, plus 10 options, to be delivered beginning in 2010 for a regional on-demand charter service. Diamond, meanwhile, has selected Air Transport Professionals, which has 20 D-Jets on order, to provide factory-authorized pilot training on the personal jet.
Aero Vodochody has concluded an agreement with Saab to build pylons for the Gripen fighter. Production, set to begin this autumn, follows a recent accord by the two companies to identify potential work packages that can be tranferred to the Czech manufacturer and to cooperate in marketing its L-159 light strike fighter/training aircraft.
Technology, since the post-World War II era, has steadily reduced the U.S. fatal accident rate to almost zero—0.01 per one million flight hours—where it has remained for the past two years. Where to go from zero? The challenge now is to find ways of sustaining that record as new and complex innovations—and their hidden risks—emerge in the Next-Gen air traffic management era.
Despite decades of work on the problem, runway incursions remain one of the biggest safety vulnerabilities in the U.S. aviation system. The FAA is introducing new technology with the potential to dramatically reduce the incursion risk, and aviation stakeholders agree it must be deployed as quickly as possible at major airports.
Capt. Kenneth Gile (see photo) has been appointed chief operating officer of flyDubai . He was president/COO of the former Skybus Airlines and had been chief pilot/director of flight operations for Southwest Airlines.
Europe is poised to update its aerospace research agenda, putting more emphasis on environmental considerations. But the level of pressure on the industry to improve its “green” performance will be dictated by political developments in the European Parliament and in multinational talks in the coming weeks and months.
The long-awaited re-engining of the U.S. Air Force’s E-8C Joint Stars will take another step forward with the completion next week of flight tests of Pratt & Whitney’s JT8D-219 engines on a Boeing 707 at Mojave, Calif.
Bombardier is restarting design of the all-composite structure for its Learjet 85 business jet following the insolvency of airframe partner Grob Aerospace, and will change the materials and manufacturing processes to be used. Launched in May, the Learjet 85 was publicly introduced at NBAA with the unveiling of a full-scale cabin mockup. Otherwise the only new aircraft launched at a subdued show were the super mid-size Gulfstream G250 and the Hawker 450XP light jet from Hawker Beechcraft.
Business aircraft manufacturers are scouring their order backlogs for signs of weakness as the global economic turmoil makes it harder for customers to buy new aircraft and finance those already on order. An eerie calm pervaded the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA) convention here last week as economic shock waves from the U.S. credit crisis spread worldwide. On the surface business went on as usual, but orders were scarce and everyone followed Wall Street’s roller-coaster ride on their BlackBerrys.
Delta Air Lines will offer business-class passengers on U.S.-London Heathrow flights with flat-beds reclining 180 deg., starting next summer. Each business-class section on the Boeing 767-400ERs Delta plans to operate on the route will be equipped with 40 seats that open to 77-in.-long beds. They will be configured in a one-two-one arrangement allowing each passenger direct aisle access.
Singapore, in preparation for growth under an open skies agreement with neighboring Malaysia, is shoring up commercial operations at Changi International Airport by bringing it under control of the same government holding company that controls Singapore Airlines. Temasek Holdings will take over control of Changi from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore next July, effectively separating the operating business from the government’s aviation regulatory function. CAAS’ duties include licensing airlines, aircraft and pilots and overseeing air traffic services.
Technology being developed to make unmanned aircraft more reliable could increase the safety of general aviation. Flight-control systems that would allow UAVs to survive damage could provide an emergency “get home” capability for light aircraft. Ultimately, advanced flight controls could allow airliners to be operated safely by a single pilot.
Everybody agrees runway incursions remain a major problem at U.S. airports, but whether it is getting worse remains open to debate. For example, the FAA argues that the total is going down, while the Government Accountability Office says the rate per operation has increased.
The U.S. Army is proposing to carve up its aviation programs and pass over some of its largest legacy ground vehicles as it devotes nearly $45 billion in plus-ups to its controversial Future Combat Systems in coming years.
Dassault has launched development of a Phase II upgrade for the EASy integrated flightdeck on its Falcon business jets. The update will include Honeywell’s synthetic vision system on both pilots’ primary displays. New options will include ADS-B Out, controller-pilot data link communications, GPS precision approach, runway awareness software and paperless charts. EASy Phase II will be certificated on the Falcon 900DX/EX in late 2009, and the Falcon 2000DC/LX and Falcon 7X in mid-2010.
Alenia Aermacchi has flown upgraded MB-339CD for the first time. Fourteen of the aircraft are being modified by the company for the Italian air force. The aircraft were in the first batch delivered to the air force in 1997, and are being brought up to the same standard as the second batch received by the air force. The bulk of the upgrade involves the cockpit and avionics. Additions include a moving map and embedded simulation systems. The €41.2-million contract ($56-million) was awarded in 2007. Delivery of all of the upgraded aircraft is to be completed next year.
